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The Protomen (album)

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The Protomen
Studio album by
The Protomen
ReleasedSeptember 3, 2005
Genre
Length36:53
Label
  • Self-released
  • Sound Machine (re-release)
ProducerHeath Who Hath No Name[2]
The Protomen chronology
The Protomen
(2005) 		Act II: The Father of Death
(2009)

The Protomen, colloquially referred to by the band in retrospect as Act I, is the debut concept album release by Nashville, Tennessee-based rock band The Protomen. The hard rock music features elements of noise rock,[1] analog distortion,[2] and synth. In this rock opera, genius scientist Dr. Thomas Light builds two robotic sons who attempt to defeat their dystopian city's Orwellian dictator and meet tragedy when they fail. The plot of the album is inspired by the Mega Man games.

The Protomen formed in 2003 as students in the studio recording program at Middle Tennessee State University. The album was produced between 2003 and 2005 in multiple locations[3][2] because the graduated students lost access to the university recording equipment. Themes of rebellion against unjust authorities and the use of analog effects like mastering on tape to intentionally retain the analog distotion[2] were responses to being taught recording industry conventions at university, which favor digitally produced tracks with mainstream sounds.[4]

The album had a positive response from video game publications, internet gaming communities, and the local Murfreesboro, Tennessee music community. The response to the album led to a trilogy of albums on this theme. The prequel Act II: The Father of Death was released on September 8, 2009, and the sequel Act III: This City Made Us is set to release January 9, 2026.

Plot summary

[edit]

The album begins with a narrator describing a dystopia ruled by Dr. Albert Wily and his army of robots. Dr. Thomas Light by night builds a robot to lead a rebellion, who is named Protoman. After twelve years, when Protoman is finished, Protoman fights Wily's forces to liberate mankind. However, after defeating many of Wily's robots, Protoman is weakened, and the robot army launches a final assault. The human crowd that gathers to watch Protoman fight feels hopeless and does not assist him, standing aside and allowing him to die ("Hope Rides Alone"). The crowd takes his helmet to a grave site. Dr. Light reflects on his grief at Protoman's death and realizes Protoman was not just a fighting robot, but his son. In rage, he sets out to destroy his apartment workshop, but unintentionally builds another robot son, named Megaman ("Funeral for a Son").

Years later, people still talk about Protoman, and Light knows that Megaman will soon find out about his brother. To dissuade Megaman from attempting to rebel against Wily, Light reluctantly tells Megaman Protoman's story, and explains that the people have "chosen their own end"—they will not fight to save themselves ("Unrest in The House of Light"). Megaman defies Light and sets out to defeat Wily, finding Protoman's grave-site, and amassing a crowd of people as he marches towards Wily's fortress, seeking to avenge his brother's death ("The Will of One").

In a rage now that he has learned of his brother and seen his grave, Megaman fights through Wily's army of robots with the angry crowd following, reaching the commander of the army ("Vengeance") where he discovers that Protoman has not actually died. Protoman now defends their dictator Wily, who made him the commander of the robot army. Protoman declares that mankind does not deserve to be saved while the bloodthirsty crowd looks on ("The Stand").

Megaman is reluctant to fight, but they eventually raise their weapons against each other while arguing. Megaman unsuccessfully attempts to convince Protoman to leave Wily and fight to free humanity once again. Confused and pressured by the human crowd shouting for Megaman to kill Protoman, with a blinding powershot Megaman delivers a mortal wound to his brother, who tells Megaman before he dies that humanity may one day realize how to save itself if they tell this story to their children. Distraught and convinced of Protoman's earlier view that humanity is not worth saving, Megaman drops his helmet and walks away from the fortress as Wily's robots massacre the crowd that was watching the battle ("Sons of Fate").

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks written and composed by The Protomen.[5]

No.TitleLength
1."I: Hope Rides Alone"5:08
2."IIa: Funeral for a Son"2:37
3."IIb: Unrest in the House of Light"3:31
4."III: The Will of One"4:09
5."IV: Vengeance"3:16
6."V: The Stand (Man or Machine)"5:57
7."VI: The Sons of Fate"8:12
8."Epilogue: Due Vendetta"4:03

Notes

  • "Epilogue: Due Vendetta" is stylized in all caps.

Concepts and analysis

[edit]
Further information: The Protomen § Concepts and themes, and The Protomen § Musical style and influences

Physical copies of CD albums are accompanied with libretto printed in liner note booklets that include narration and stage direction not present in the songs.[6][7][8][9][10]

Act I is a tragedy in the same vein as its prequel rock opera Act II: The Father of Death.[11]

The relationship between the crowd and heroes in the Protomen's music and performances has explicit parallels to Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. Video game reporter Benjamin Lamoreux explained, "Both stories have a very pronounced theme that the common man (the "proles" of 1984 and the humans of The Protomen) need to stand up and fight. It’s not a enough for a Hero (be it a member of the Ingsoc society or mechanical savior) to take a stand."[12]

The Act I crowd refrain "we are the dead" is a phrase from Nineteen Eighty-Four prophesying the characters' doom that is reinforced by the ubiquitous propaganda telescreens.[13] In The Protomen, it reinforces the crowd's lack of will to free themselves.[14]

But from the crowd, from the collective fear, arose these broken words:
We are the dead.
We are the dead.

— Narrator and Human Choir, in The Protomen, I: Hope Rides Alone[15]

Interpreting Act I in combination with the events of Act II, Sharp describes the inaction of the crowd in Act I as a function of hero worship from lack of agency under totalitarianism: "There was never an organized resistance to Wily's totalitarian society because once the people were deprived of a sense of responsibility for their own survival – when they no longer needed to work to live, they also psychologically gave up responsibility for their own destinies. They came to expect someone else to take care of all of their needs, leading to hero worship."[16] Sharp calls Wily's city a "social auto-totality",[16] a phrase coined by Václav Havel for a totalitarian system that relies on demoralizing the populace.[17]

Science fiction tropes underpin the rock opera, such as the character of Wily, who is a mad scientist.[18] The rock opera is inspired by the first six NES Mega Man games and the franchise's characters,[19][20] who are primarily robots named after music genres such as blues and rock and roll.[21] The Mega Man franchise has canonical storylines that the Protomen rock opera plot diverges from significantly.[4][22][23] Many characters have names and roles from Mega Man, but the setting is a dark reimagining of the game's underlying world.[12] Video game and science fiction inspired sound effects and electronic motifs crossover with the hard rock and rock and roll musical style, causing some critics to dub the group's style "science fiction rock."[24][25]

Critical and press reception

[edit]

The album received favorable press from 1UP[26] and The Escapist (in the form of an interview with the band).[27] Nintendo Power said the album was in a league of its own, and recommended it especially to fans of the Mega Man games.[28] Pushstart praised the album as "one of the most interesting albums, or sagas, related to video games" and called the multimedia storytelling format "significant for the world of video games."[29] Mix said "[t]he emotion, the music and performance's power certainly landed" and positively described "Unrest in the House of Light" as a "bizarre, heavy crash-and-burn blend of Spaghetti Western distorto-rock and dark country".[30] Piero Scaruffi describes the album as a "style reminiscent of prog-rock of the 1970s, simply updated to the videogame subculture of their age and with the occasional heavy-metal discharge."[31]

The Commercial Appeal recommended the album for people who thought rock opera Kilroy Was Here (1983) by Styx "just didn't go far enough," and highly rated the stage performance: "Folks [...] owe it to themselves to check out the band's self-titled CD. Better yet, go to the show."[32]

The album has gained a number of supporters from fans of the Mega Man games and music listeners in general, highlighting the storytelling, music, and dark interpretation of the game's mythology. The success of the album, bolstered by an article in the gaming magazine Nintendo Power, began a huge cult following for the band, with fans attending concerts in costumes inspired by the band's storyline and participating by way of singing along with the band's music, which was further exemplified by the group's work in Act II: The Father of Death.[citation needed]

In 2015, Unrest In The House Of Light appeared as a cover song on Murder By Death’s As You Wish: Kickstarter Covers Vol. 2.[citation needed]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Michael, Nelson (October 27, 2025). "Top 10 Rock Operas That Deserve A Stage Adaptation". Stereogum. Retrieved November 30, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d Clark, Rick (January 4, 2006). "Nashville Skyline". Mix Online. ProQuest 196874408. Archived from the original on March 28, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
  3. ^ The Protomen (2005). The Protomen (Media notes). Sound Machine Records. From first unnumbered interior page to fifteenth unnumbered interior page. Compact disc.
  4. ^ a b Ninjapocalypse (June 9, 2010). "On Video Game Cover Bands". Catchy Name News. Archived from the original on August 17, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2025. Cited by Fenlon, Wes (October 3, 2025). "5869 days after releasing the greatest rock opera about Mega Man ever recorded, The Protomen's follow-up Act 3 is, unbelievably, finally here". PC Gamer. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
  5. ^ The Protomen CD MyShopify (2014).
  6. ^ Blackard, Cat (September 8, 2016). "First Look: The Protomen's 16-minute short film Light Up the Night". Consequence. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
  7. ^ Kopp, Bill (May 20, 2010). "Act II: The Father of Death". Musoscribe: Bill Kopp's Music Magazine. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
  8. ^ McAvoy, Christine (October 6, 2025). "Songs of the Week: September 29". 3am Revelations. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
  9. ^ Gann, Patrick (February 1, 2011). Wilkes, Brenna (ed.). "Just Who Are The Protomen? Let's Find Out!". Original Sound Version. Archived from the original on December 21, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
  10. ^ Troy (October 5, 2010). "The Protomen - Act II: The Father of Death (2009)". Punknews.org. ISSN 1710-5366. Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  11. ^ Keenan, Hesher (October 27, 2025). "Exclusive Premiere: The Protomen Light Up the Night with "This City Made Us"". MetalSucks. Retrieved October 28, 2025.
  12. ^ a b Lamoreux, Benjamin (September 7, 2011). "Nerd Rock Review: The Protomen". Zelda Dungeon. Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  13. ^ Meyers, Jeffrey (January 25, 2017) [January 1, 2010]. "Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and political words". Illinois Press Blog. Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
  14. ^ Kuzma, Jack (November 14, 2025). "The Protomen Act I + Act II Review". Prowl Radio. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Retrieved November 25, 2025. Eventually, Protoman is beaten by the robots and the Human Choir is introduced, along with their signature phrase, "We are the dead." This phrase shows the album's cynicism towards mankind, which is one of the main themes of the album, right at the start. Instead of fighting alongside Protoman, mankind just gives up, continuing to allow Wily's rule.
  15. ^ The Protomen (2005). "I: HOPE RIDES ALONE". The Protomen (Media notes). Sound Machine Records. Second unnumbered interior page; lines 47–50. Compact disc.
  16. ^ a b Sharp, Eric A. (July 5, 2014). "Automated Totalitarianism: A Critical Analysis of The Protomen". Ludwig von Mises Institute of Canada. Archived from the original on April 7, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2025.
  17. ^ Elshtain, Jean Bethke (1997) [Fall 1993]. "Real Politics". The New York Times Web Archive. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-5599-3. Retrieved October 27, 2025. The post-totalitarian system, whatever its political self-definition, pushes to "bind everything in a single order." Havel calls this "social auto-totality," a system that depends on demoralization and cannot survive without it
  18. ^ Graves, Seth (November 29, 2007). Glennon, John (ed.). "Our Critics' Picks". Nashville Scene. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  19. ^ Johnson, Andrew (April 20, 2005). "How the Protomen kidnapped and forced me to ride around Murfreesboro blindfolded for 20 minutes just for a one-on-one interview". Sidelines. Middle Tennessee State University. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  20. ^ Kuchera, Ben (March 31, 2010). "Checking in from PAX East: new location, same love". Ars Technica. Retrieved October 27, 2025.
  21. ^ Wojnar, Zak (April 26, 2016). "12 Things You Need to Know About Mega Man". ScreenRant. Retrieved October 21, 2025. With Mega Man using music terms to name many of its characters, it's only fair that a rock band come along and use the mythology of the Mega Man series to tell a rock opera about a dystopian future and the downfall of humanity at the hands of their robot creations...or something.
  22. ^ Wardlaw, Matt (October 17, 2023). "40 of Rock's Most Important Rock Opera Albums". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  23. ^ Malus, Randall (January 23, 2020) [October 21, 2009]. "Mega Man Examiner Article Double Feature". Fictosphere Entertainment. Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  24. ^ Hellcat (December 9, 2009). "Gamer Music Gurus". The Pulse. Vol. 6, no. 50. Chattanooga, Tennessee: Brewer Media Group. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  25. ^ "Protomen win 2nd "Road to Bonnaroo" competition". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee: Gannett Media Corp. April 21, 2009. ISSN 1053-6590. ProQuest 239922403.
  26. ^ "Playing It Loud: Six bands inspired by video games". 1UP. 2006. Retrieved October 10, 2025. Also published as: Spitalieri, Mike (August 2006). Hsu, Dan (ed.). "Playing It Loud". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 206. San Francisco, California: Ziff Davis Media. p. 31. Retrieved October 10, 2025.
  27. ^ Drake, Shannon (May 11, 2007). "Hope Rides Alone: The Protomen". Escapist Magazine. Archived from the original on January 5, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  28. ^ M, Andy (March 2006). Tsuboike, Yoshio (ed.). "Mega Maniacs". Nintendo Power. Vol. 201. Redmond, Washington: T. Kimishima, Nintendo of America, Inc.
  29. ^ Canelo, João (April 2012). "The Protomen". Revistsa Pushstart [Pushstart Magazine] (in Portuguese). Vol. 19. pp. 49–50.
  30. ^ Clark, Rick (April 2006). "Nashville" (PDF). Mix. Vol. 30, no. 4. UK: Future Publishing Ltd. pp. 140–143. ISSN 0164-9957. EBSCOhost 20503787 ProQuest 196874408.
  31. ^ Scaruffi, Piero. "Protomen: biography, discography, review, best albums, ratings". Piero Scaruffi's knowledge base (in English and Italian). Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  32. ^ "GET OUT - Best bets for the weekend and beyond". The Commercial Appeal. Gannett Media Corp. August 3, 2007. p. G.2. ISSN 0745-4856. ProQuest 2597449267. Do the robot. Nashville's Protomen dress up as robots to perform their progressive rock opera based on an obscure figure from the Nintendo video game Mega Man. So, guys, if you're looking to meet a girl this Sunday, Neil's might not be the place to go. But if you want to hear some truly inspired, epic rock, you could do no better. The band is largely made up of music graduates from Middle Tennessee State University, though they are so stubborn about staying in character you're hard-pressed to find that they have not only an inspired and closely held conviction in their conceit, but the musical chops to pull it off. Folks who miss Queensryche and Yes, or who thought Styx's Kilroy Was Here just didn't go far enough, owe it to themselves to check out the band's self-titled CD. Better yet, go to the show. 8 p.m. Sunday at Neils, 1835 Madison, with Makeup and Vanity Set. Call 278-6345.
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